Many people argue about whether violence in movies causes violence in real life. I say NO WAY, and if it does, movies like Django Unchained don't cause it. If anything, they DETER people from committing acts of violence in real life. Only a really, really, REALLY sick human being would voluntarily see the kind of things in that movie... IN REAL LIFE. And it's my professional opinion that that kind of person doesn't exist.
As for the plot, well, it was a classic Tarantino revenge movie (in the vein of Kill Bill, the fourth-greatest movie of all time). Django is a slave at the beginning, but is freed by a badass German bounty hunter/dentist who needs Django to ID two outlaws for bounty collection. When he sees how good Django is with a rifle, he takes him on as his partner and the two go on an epic quest to find Django's long-lost wife, who was sold into slavery and separated from him.
So yeah, it's one of THOSE movies. Topping off its 2 hour and 45 minute running time is the classic Tarantino signature--- LOTS AND LOTS OF BLOOD. The most memorable moments in the film include a fantastic shot of blood flying on a field of cotton balls, turning them red, and the final shootout, which paints the walls of Leonardo Dicaprio's mansion a deep crimson hue. Tarantino has been at the peak of making great visual films, and this is no exception: For better or for worse, you'll remember the images from this movie for some time.
However, this movie had one flaw: There were absolutely no moments in the entire film where you felt the slightest bit of respect, sympathy, or mercy for the villains. And that's because all the villains were RACIST BUTTHOLES. There's no sugarcoating it. But in every truly great movie, the villains are also truly great, be it Darth Vader, Hans Gruber, HAL 9000, The Terminator, or Sauron. As awful as any one of those characters may be, you have to admit, they're pretty f**king awesome. So when you see a movie like Django Unchained, there's nothing else to do but massacre these slave-owning sodsucking southern asswipes by the truckload. And maybe THAT'S why Django Unchained has gotten far more flak for violence than any other film. Because the people being killed are so UTTERLY DETESTABLE that the other characters and the audience get great pleasure whenever one of these morons gets his head blown up.
Movies usually try to avoid that pitfall. Even the best movie ever, Raiders of the Lost Ark, comes dangerously close--- but it makes the decisive (and great) choice to cast Belloq, a competing French archaeologist, against Indiana Jones. If it weren't for him, all we would have is Nazis--- who can also be killed by the dozen without anyone batting an eye. Another example: Zombies. But of course, zombies are already dead, so 'killing' them doesn't really make a difference, now does it?
But despite its flaws, Django Unchained is still a great movie, both in visuals and plot. Samuel L. Jackson in particular delivers a great performance as a slave who is surprisingly pro-slavery. Final score for Django Unchained? 9/10 stars. One of the best movies of the year.
I may not get around to seeing Zero Dark Thirty, meaning that this is possibly the last movie from 2012 I'll be seeing. And therefore, it's time to put a poll up: What was the Best Picture of 2012? The nominees for that and other categories in The Grahammies will be posted within a week or so. Click on the tag 'movie' to see every movie review I've written up this year, and watch a few of them. You'll be surprised by how good my taste is.
Bye!
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